This disclosure relates to a drum made of wood, and in particular a drum made of wood that is treated by direct contact with an open flame.
The outer shell of many drums is made of a hard wood, such as oak, hickory, or maple, optionally with a lacquer or other sealant or finish. It is known that the removal of at least some moisture from wood assists strengthening and reducing or preventing damage or deformation over time due to increasing hardness. This initial trying step can be performed via indirect heating in a kiln, for example. However, the conventional drying process does not alter the fibrous makeup of the outer surface of the drum cylinder shell; it simply removes moisture present in the native wood materials.
A similar inventive technique is disclosed and claimed in co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/620,281, which focuses on direct flame-treatment of the outer surfaces of wooden drumsticks—as opposed to drum cylinders—to alter the fibrous makeup of the outer surface of the wood, thereby forming a hardened outer layer on the drumsticks. The general concepts for altering the fibrous makeup of an outer layer of wood via direct flame treatment disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/620,281 are expressly incorporated herein by reference.